Dr. Jane Landers is a leading historian of the African diaspora and the Spanish colonial Americas, renowned for her groundbreaking research on the free Black community of Fort Mose. For more than three decades, she has uncovered the lives, identities, and experiences of the men, women, and families who sought freedom there. Her definitive works — including Fort Mose: Colonial America’s Black Fortress of Freedom and its expanded second edition — illuminate the community’s global significance and enduring legacy. Landers’ scholarship continues to shape public understanding of Fort Mose and remains foundational to its interpretation today.